VF dog Maya and April Issue, photo taken of bottom of page 52 of VF June,

This morning, over breakfast of berries, granola, flax, and soy milk, plus my morning cup of joe, of course, I flipped through the pages of the June issue of Vanity Fair. I like reading VF readers’ letters. I was curious to see what people thought about Taylor Swift landing on the cover of the April issue. After all, the magazine also contained a detailed account of Malala Yousafzai’s story.

I must admit, I read Malala’s story and skipped Taylor’s. Not really a fan. I have to admit too, that her songs are catchy, both from a melody and refrain standpoint. I can see how they can turn into earworms in people’s heads easily. Whatever the rest of us might say, she’s a successful artist and she’s a brand.

I expected reprisals from VF readers. Personally, I would have liked to see Ms. Yousafzai on the cover. Her story is far more compelling to me. She’s a hero in a world where most heroes don’t see the light of day after being shot by the Taliban. But, I wonder, would VF have sold less copies? One could argue that the rest of us could have gone to the usual celebrity gossip magazines for this type of story, but not really expect it from VF.

Then I read what readers have said. Some of them did not mince words.

VF Readers Comments, June 2013 Issue, photo credit Likeitiz

I have to say that I’m glad I was not sipping my coffee when I read this or I would have spewed most of it through my nose and mouth! Whew!

VF Readers’ Letters page, June 2013 issue

There were also numerous tweets to VF about this. Here’s some of them in case you can’t read the small print:

“Ugh, Taylor Swift is on the @VanityFair cover this month? I’m gonna have to read it out of a brown paper bag like it’s porn.” – @washingtina

“best part of @VanityFair’s article on Taylor Swift ‘She writes perfect pop songs that stick in your head like lollipops stuck in your hair’ – @theelf26

You get the drift. I guess we should not be so mean. She’s someone’s daughter. I don’t know a lot about her, really. Only that she’s famous and her songs have similar girl-ignored/ditched-by-cute-boy themes.

I still wish they put Malala’s picture on the cover. Then maybe my hubby would not have left the issue on the plane when we were going to Mexico a few weeks ago and I could have read the other articles…..

18 Responses to Swift Vs. Yousafzai?

since so much thought is put in to the cover of a magazine – the most important decision is the cover-vanity fair must think its readers would rather taylor swift-that we prefer candy to a difficult, timely and heroic story. i love the magazine for the most part but they are hit and miss gauging the interest and intellect of their readers sometimes.

I wonder is the hodgepodge of topics and articles they put together constitutes their definition of pop culture. A little politics, a little celebrity ogling, fashion and film star icons, philanthropy, legendary writers, etc. perhaps. But it’s confusing.

I am in my 60s and a finance academic. My interest in pop culture has not dissipated through the years. It helps me connect with the younger generation. My recent disovery — Vampire Weekend, the four Ivy Leaguers whose recent album is number 1 in the rock and roll chart. Their lyrics are poetic. I never thought I would say that about rock and rollers!

Great point about appealing to the pop culture mentality in publishing. They feed on each other–but that point of view is very limiting and boring in the end! Look what this mentality has done to the news media and publishing in general. The quick and easy sell. So sad. But then again, independent news agents on the web and in self-publishing are changing that model. It’s about time!

I don’t know — Malala is selling an awful lot of copies of a lot of magazines and newspapers! Of course, here in the US, Taylor Swift requires some attention, because she’s an entertainment celebrity, and that trumps real news most days! (I agree, Malala on the cover. And VF is a smart magazine, so it might have been possible….

Yes I can picture it but I prefer Brad over little Spade. I do not really follow stars, thats why I discontinued my subscription but I have to say, my hand was ON THE MAGAZINE ….then I put it down. I guess I need to go watch Legends of the Fall…….